W1 is defined by the 07864 coding region mutation; a third of W's are of
this subgroup, making it the largest. If HVR2 results are available, W1
may be tentatively identified by not having the 00194 mutation, which
differentiates it from all other W subgroups.

W1 emerged about 15,000 years ago in central Eurasia. There are nine recognized major subgroups, W1a through W1i, plus more than ten others not yet given an official designation. A basic W1 lineage continues in the Baltic area without mutations up to the present day. This very stable lineage means that various subgroups split apart from the basic W1 at widely differing times, from 14,000 years ago to as recently as 3,000 years ago.

W1a (currently defined by coding region mutations 05495 12669). These mutations actually identify a Finnish subgroup that diversified less than 3,000 years ago, coincident with the expansion of Finns into their current territory. However recent results have shown a more complex picture. First, it is found that there was a lineage of W1a's that migrated from Finland via Sweden to Britain. Second, a new ancestral branch has been discovered, with just the 5495 mutation, which is much older - around 14,000 years old. This has currently been identified in Austria, Belgium, and Ireland. The distribution indicates it probably developed in the Eurasian steppes and migrated into Europe with the first pastoralists.

W1b (defined by coding region mutations 04928 and 09612, and HVR2 mutation 00227). This so far remains a purely Finnish group. Prior to the migration of the Finns from their Siberian homeland to their modern territory, about 4500 years ago, a 10086 mutation split W1b into two lineages. After 3,000 years ago, both expanded into numerous subbranches.

W1c (defined by coding region mutations 14148). This subgroup, emerged around 8,000 years ago in the steppes of Kazakhstan. W1c lineages migrated in two major directions around 6,000 years ago: into Scandinavia, and then into Germany and the British Isles; and into Georgia, Turkey, Iran and India.
Descendent lineages are found today in Georgia, Turkey, Iran, India, and Europe, as follows:

W1c1, defined by the 11204 and 12648 mutations. This emerged 6,500 years ago in Germany and is found today in Germany and Britain

W1c+5004, which emerged in Sweden 3,500 years ago, and is found today in Sweden and Ireland

W1c+16294, which emerged 1,700 years ago and is found today in Denmark. One Italian branch may in fact be another W1c subgroup that independently developed the 16294 mutation

W1c+9098 +15812, reported from Denmark

W1c+119, which emerged 7,400 years ago. Scandinavian branches are found in Denmark and Norway. One branch with the 150 mutation appeared 6,000 years ago and is found in India. Another branch with the -16292 mutation developed 5,000 years ago, and has subbranches in India and Iran.

Additional subbranches from Iran and Georgia.

W1d is defined by coding region mutation 08383, 09278, and 14981. There is only one full genome result so far, that an Israeli Jew of Iraqi origin. The person has numerous additional changes, including loss of 16292 in HVR1, 16260 and 16298 in HVR1, and 00189, 00194, 00200 in HVR2. There are similar HVR / HVR2 results from Iran, Iraq, and Cyprus. The type seems therefore to have emerged in the earliest agricultural societies, and spread into the eastern Mediterranean, the Levant, Iraq, and Iran. The relationship between the Iranian Indo-European results and the Iraqi Jewish results may suggest an origin of this lineage in the Persian exile as described in the Book of Esther.

W1e is defined by the 08659 and 08887 coding region mutations, and emerged around 4,500 years ago. It is a European type, probably migrating from the Eurasian steppes into Scandinavia and Central Europe, with the following sub-branches:

W1e1, with the 16295 mutation in HVR1. The ancestral type with only the 16295 mutation is today exclusively Finnish, with a diversification around 3,500 years ago. A major subbranch, with an additional 16324 HVR1 mutation, and the 10398 coding region mutation, emerged around 1,500 years ago and is found today from Scandinavia to the British Isles and Portugal on the one hand; and in Central Europe into Germany and Switzerland on the other.

These Central European W1e1's have an interesting distribution. The geographic distribution (and the associated dates) correlate with the migrations of the Huns under Attilla. 16295+16324 is also found among the Sekely in Romania, who believe themselves descendants of the Huns. Some traditions say the Huns originated in northern Eurasia, the same area as the Finno-Ugarits. So one theory could be that the original 16295-only mutation arose around 3,500 years ago among the peoples in northern Eurasia who would later split into the Finns, Estonians, Magyars, and Huns; but only the 16324 mutation emerged among the Estonians and Huns; and the Huns brought it into central Europe, while the Estonians into maritime western Europe via Scandinavia.

Two additional W1e1 subbranches, which emerged in the last 1,000 years in Finland

Two additional W1e subbranches, which emerged 1,000-2,000 years ago. One is found in the Czech Republic.

W1f, defined by the 09950 mutation in the coding region. This emerged 4,000 years ago, presumably among European Neolithic agriculturalists in the Danube valley. So far only three coding region results have been reported; one branch in Austria has a 16275 mutation in HVR1; the other branch, in the Czech Republic, has a 16249 mutation. No HVR1-only or HVR1+HVR2 results have been reported that might provide more information.

W1g, defined by the 16320 mutation in HVR1. This extends from the Ukraine through Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, and France to Portugal. This arose 5,000 years ago and the timing and the distribution suggest the lineage arose in the upper Danube Valley among the first agriculturalists in Europe.

W1h, defined by the 16145 mutation in HVR1. One branch of this tree is found among the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe. The line may indicate an ancestor for this entire lineage in the Middle East, since the other branches are found in Italy and Saudi Arabia. Interestingly it is also found among Polish Roma, and ancestral to the Ashkenazi...

W1i, defined by the 5580 coding region mutation and the -16223 mutation in HVR1 (see W1 diagram at the top of this page). Probably European, this emerged 4,000 years ago, but no definite geographic information available yet.

W1+16295, defined by the 16295 mutation in HVR1 (see W1 diagram at the top of this page). This emerged in Belgium 1,700 years ago and spread to Britain and Ireland.

W1+119 defined by the 119 mutation in HVR2 (see W1 diagram at the top of this page). This emerged 3,000 years ago in the Baltic, and spread via maritime routes to the countries bordering that sea, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Spain.

Nine other as-yet undesignated subgroups (see W1 diagram at the top of this page). As with so many other W1 subgroups, these all seem to be north European maritime lineages, perhaps descended from a basic W1 lineage in the eastern Baltic 4,000 years ago.These range from Finland, to Britain, Netherlands, France, and the British Isles.